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For his first decade coaching in the Valley, Jason Golden gradually gained an understanding of the Peoria Panthers football lore.
In the last eight seasons, he gained an appreciation of the program's tradition as its defensive coordinator.
Now he will be the driving force of Peoria High's football future. The school hired him as its head coach on Feb. 1 - and only its third head coach since 1986.
"I know that's part of what I'm up against. Coach Clapp was here 25 years and Coach Babb 10. I want to be here long term nd finish my career here," Golden said.
Since beginning to coach in the Peoria Unified School District in 2002, Golden has gotten to know both well.
He arrived that year as the defensive coordinator at rival Cactus - but the Cobras and Panthers didn't play between 1999 and 2007 as Peoria High ballooned to about 3,000 students before Kellis High School was built.
"Cactus and Peoria didn't play when I was at Cactus because Peoria was 5A," Golden said.
Still he learned about the program through co-coaching an elementary school softball team with Julie Clapp, Doug's wife.
While at Cactus, he coached with Brian Belles, hired as the Cobras new head coach in January. Belles was the defensive backs coach before being promoted to defensive coordinator once Golden became a head coach at the district's newest school.
Golden started the football program at Kellis when he was 31, His wife, Erin, was studying to become a school administrator and they were raising two young children.
The Cougars made the playoffs as a 4A school in three of their first five years. Golden's first trip to Peoria High was in the fifth season, 2010, as the Panthers squeaked by 26-22 in the regular season finale to clinch a region title.
"When you come over here it's a different place and it can be intimidating with the train and everything," Golden said.
Kellis moved up in 2011 to what was then called Division II. It's very similar to today's 5A conference.
Suddenly Kellis was playing Centennial, Liberty, Apollo and Deer Valley. Things went south and Golden left after the 2013 season - wanting to coach but in a reduced role.
"I needed a place to step back and Coach Babb was the first person that reached out to me. With Coach Babb, it's about more than football. There's so much he does in the community. I learned how to treat people from Coach Babb," Golden said. "Working with Bobby and Tony Gonzalo has been special. They've been here since the 1960s, which is amazing."
He coached his son, Jacob at Peoria. Jacob graduated in 2019 and now plays at Boise State. His daughter, Meghan, graduated from Centennial in 2021 and now pitches for Northern Colorado.
Now Golden returns to head coaching with more time to devote to it and eight years of knowledge at the school.
"He's a good man and a good friend. He will do well," Babb stated in a text.
Peoria will be the only district school playing 4A football next year. Golden said as the schedules are hashed out that he wants the Panthers to play both of its 5A rivals - Cactus and Kellis next fall.
Along with maintaining the traditions of Panther football, Golden said his goals will be to build up feeder programs and increase the number of players.
Peoria finished 4-6 in 2021 and just missed the playoffs despite beating playoff team Northwest Christian. The Panhers lost a core of key seniors, but Golden likes the group coming back.
"We have a strong nucleus of players that can help with that transition," Golden said.
Richard Smith Associate Editor | Surprise & West Valley Preps @rsmithYWV
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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